The Ninth Commandment 08/06/2023

The Truth of God’s Nature

One of the defining characteristics of the Lord God is truth. The Lord our God is a God of truth. It is impossible for the Lord God to be anything but truth. Truth is essential to his nature. It is essential to his attributes, his words, his works.

Truth is essential to the very being of God. The Lord our God is a God of truth. The Lord our God is truth. He is the standard of truth, the benchmark of truth, the wellspring of truth, the fountainhead of truth.

He is the source of all truth. The Lord our God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being truth. In the book of Exodus, Moses asked to see the glory of the Lord. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. Exodus 34, 5. Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth. The Lord God abounds in truth. He is lavish and overflowing in truth.

The Lord God is exceedingly great in truth because he is truth. In the book of Deuteronomy, in the song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32, 3. For I proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God. He is the rock.

His work is perfect. For all his ways are justice. A God of truth without injustice. Righteous and upright is he. All throughout the scriptures, the Lord God, our Father God, is referred to as the God of truth.

Christ, the Spirit, and the Church as Truth

As is God the Son. Jesus Christ is also referred to as truth. In the book of John, the Lord Jesus Christ told his disciples, Where I am going, you cannot come. And then he foretold that a rooster would not crow till Peter had denied him three times.

This laid heavy on the disciples. To encourage them, he said, John 14, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. That where I am, there you may go also. And where I go, you know, and the way you know.

Thomas cried out, Lord, we do not know where you're going. How can we know the way? John 14, 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the way. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the life. God became flesh and blood and dwelt among us. And his glory was seen. Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and full of truth.

God the Spirit is also called truth. The Spirit was given by the Father and sent by the Father and the Son to convict and to guide the children of God in all truth. John 14, 16. And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another helper, that he may abide with you forever.

The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. The Spirit of truth was given to the church as a helper so that we, the church, might be able to fulfill our mission and our purpose.

The church is the household of the living God, and it is to be the pillar and support of the truth. The church is responsible to adamantly and steadfastly uphold the truth of the Lord God. The church is to support, safeguard, and proclaim the truth of the Lord our God.

In stark contrast to the triune God of truth is the God of this world, Satan, our adversary. Satan is not truth, but untruth. Satan is false. He is a liar, a deceiver, a cheat, and a fraud. Satan does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.

And when he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar. He is the father of lies. Satan and his deceitful workers strive to keep the world in darkness, ignorant of the Lord God, and ignorant of the light of his truth.

2 Corinthians 11,. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

Satan and his servants strive to deceive and to blind the minds of the unbelieving, so that they might not see the true light, the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. But their end will correspond to their deeds.

For the Lord God hates a lying tongue. And all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. Proverbs 6 .16. There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him.

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Proverbs 12 .22. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. But those who act faithfully are his delight. Lying, deceit, and all untruth angers and defies the Lord God, who is truth. Lying, deceit, and all untruth runs contrary to the Lord God and to those who belong to him, his children.

As children of the God of truth, we are to reflect his truth. We are to speak his truth. We are to walk in his truth. As children of the Lord God, we are to exhibit the attributes and the qualities that are consistent with our Father God.

Colossians 3 .7. In these two, you once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away. Put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator.

Lying, deceit, and all untruth must be put off. These things must be stripped off and forever cast away. In their place, we must put on honesty, sincerity, and truth. These things must be put on as one puts on a new outfit of clothing.

The children of God are to be adorned with honesty, sincerity, and truth because these are consistent with our new self. These are consistent with our new man and our union with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Beloved, what about you? What does your speech reveal? What do your words reveal? Do you speak the truth or do you speak untruth? Is your speech honest and sincere or is it dishonest and deceptive? Does your speech reflect your Father, the God of truth, or does it reflect the God of this world, the Father of lies?

Beloved, our speech is exceedingly important. The words that we speak and the manner in which we speak them are exceedingly important. In fact, life and death will be determined by the tongue. Matthew 12, either make the tree good and its fruit good or make the tree bad and its fruit bad for a tree is known by its fruit.

You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you're evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good. The evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned. Beloved, it is out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Out of the abundance of your heart your mouth speaks. Your words, the truthfulness of your words will either justify you or condemn you on the day of judgment. All men will give an account for every dishonest, shaded and careless word that is spoken which is why you must guard your lips.

You must control your tongue and you must speak the truth by submitting to and walking in obedience to the ninth commandment. Please join with me to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 20. By way of reminder, commandment number one, you shall have no other gods before me.

Commandment number two, you shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them.

Commandment number three, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Commandment number four, you shall remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Commandment number five, you shall honor your father and your mother.

Commandment number six, you shall not murder. Commandment number seven, you shall not commit adultery. Commandment number eight, you shall not steal. This morning, we continue our study of the Ten Commandments by examining the ninth commandment, Exodus 20 verse 16.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Well, what is the meaning of this commandment? What does it mean to bear false witness against your neighbor? Well, it means to give an untruthful testimony against your neighbor.

The primary focus of this passage relates to bearing false witness against your neighbor in a legal or judicial setting. Thus, it is forbidden to bear false witness against one's neighbor in a court of law.

It is forbidden to speak lies against one's neighbor in a court of law. The ninth commandment is a condemnation of perjury. In your testimony as a witness, you must speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Exodus 23, one through three, you shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit siding with the many so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.

Verses six to eight, you shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. And you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

Do not spread a false report. Do not join in with the wicked and be a malicious witness. Do not side with the many to accomplish evil. Do not be partial to the poor. Do not keep a false charge. Do not take a bribe.

All of these things pervert justice, the justice of the God of truth. All of these things violate the ninth commandment. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. This commandment, however, extends far beyond the judicial courtroom setting.

Bearing false witness against your neighbor is one of the worst forms of lying and deceit, but it is not the only form of lying and deceit. There are many other forms to which we must pay very close attention.

One of the most common forms of lying and deceit is the malicious lie. A malicious lie is a complete fabrication of the truth which is meant to hurt or to harm your neighbor. A good example of the malicious lie is the conversation between Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden, Genesis 3 .1.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die.

But the serpent said to the woman, You will surely not die. What was the Lord God's command and promise in these verses? The command was, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden.

And the promise was, neither shall you touch it lest you die. And what was the serpent's response to Eve regarding this promise? Eve, you will surely not die. I'm sure these words were spoken with complete confidence and complete certainty.

But was the serpent speaking the truth? No, it was not the truth. It was a malicious and blatant lie. The serpent spoke untruth. The serpent outright calls the Lord God a liar, and he verbally negates the Lord God's promise.

He deceives Eve into thinking that she will most assuredly not die. But what were the consequences of Adam and Eve and their actions?

Death.

Both Adam and Eve died. And what were the consequences for the rest of mankind?

Death.

All men will die. This one trespass led to the fall and condemnation of all men. This was a malicious and blatant lie. And this ushered into the world sin, disease, and death. The malicious lie is the mother of all deception.

But more commonly, I think most of us probably struggle with other forms of deception, the so-called respectable side of lying and deceit. Consider the sin of slander. What is slander? Slander is when we make false statements about another person in an attempt to harm them or to tarnish their reputation.

The Greek term translated slander is blasphemia, from which we get the English word blasphemy. Slander is blasphemy against our neighbor. It is meant to be injurious. It is meant to be hurtful. It is meant to be detrimental.

It is meant to smear, defame, and vilify the character and reputation of our neighbor. Simply put, slander is lying about someone with the intent of doing them harm and causing others to view them in a negative light.

Libel is written. Slander is spoken. For the children of the God of all truth, slander is entirely inconsistent with our new self. Proverbs 1018, the one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool.

Proverbs 1627, a worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. Thomas Watson remarked, the scorpion carries his poison in his tail. The slanderer carries his in his tongue. Proverbs 2221, a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

A good name represents a person's character, and slander is the theft of your neighbor's good name. Slander is the defamation of their character. It defaces and vandalizes their good character. And slander can cause permanent and long-lasting damage to other people.

Slander can ruin a good reputation. A good name slandered can be very timely and difficult to restore. In the book of Romans, Paul lists, provides a list of traits to those who possess a depraved mind.

A mind that has suppressed the truth of God in unrighteousness. A mind that has exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. A mind that has exchanged the truth of God for a lie.

Romans 128. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.

They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give hearty approval to those who practice them. Slander is not a characteristic that is used to describe the children of God but of those whom God has given over to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

Slander is a harmful and grievous sin that is a clear violation of the ninth commandment. Another sin that is very closely associated with slander is gossip. What is gossip? Well, gossip is when we spread information, usually unfavorable information, about another person that may or may not be true but is harmful to their reputation.

The literal meaning of the term gossip is to whisper or to speak in one's ear. Gossip is the quiet whisper of slander. It is the quiet whisper of criticism. It is hearsay, tailbearing, and the scandalous dish that often disparages and denigrates your neighbor.

In short, you are guilty of the sin of gossip when you talk about or listen to the things that you should not be talking about or listening to because they're none of your business. Paul rebuked the younger widows at Ephesus for participating in the sin of gossip.

In writing to Timothy, Paul says, Refuse to put younger widows, refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry, and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith.

Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. The sin of gossip has been a problem in every church that I have ever attended.

In the local church, gossip is so destructive. It can damage relationships, it can divide friends and family, and it can easily ruin reputations. In the local church, gossip can utterly disintegrate and shatter our unity.

In light of these severe consequences, why then would anyone participate in the sin of gossip? Because gossip can be very alluring and enticing and tantalizing. Not once but twice in the book of Proverbs, it is stated, Proverbs 18 .8, the words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels.

They go down into the inner parts of the body. Proverbs 26 .22, the words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels. They go down into the inner parts of the body. Two identical verses describing the sin of gossip, specifically as a delicious morsel.

Indeed, gossip can be very hard to resist because it is a delicious morsel. Gossip is appealing, it is intriguing, it is tempting because it feeds our desire to have inside information on others. It feeds our desire to be in the know.

It feeds our desire to be pious and sanctimonious and superior over everyone else. The problem with gossip and listening to gossip is that it is often based on rumor. It is often based on hearsay. It is often based on a lie.

To participate in the rumor will continue its destructive spread. Proverbs 26 .20, for lack of wood the fire goes out and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. Where there is no whisperer, contentions quiet.

Where there is no whisperer, strife ceases. Where there is no whisperer, conflict dies down. Where there is no whisperer, there is peace. In these types of circumstances, we should be asking ourselves, would I be telling this story if the person who it's about was here?

Would I be listening to this story if the person were here? Am I hiding this conversation from anyone? Am I ashamed of it? Am I speaking in hushed tones? Am I whispering? Would I want someone else to talk this way about me if I were not in the room?

Jerry Bridges, the author of the book Respectable Sins, wrote this, indulging in gossip seems to feed our sinful ego, especially when the information we're passing along is negative. It makes us feel self-righteous by comparison.

And then there are those times when we disguise our gossip as, I want to share this with you for your prayers. If we know something negative about someone, we should pray about it, but we should not spread the bad news.

To spread gossip and to participate in slander ignores the clear teaching of the scriptures, and both violate the ninth commandment. Thus, Proverbs 424, put away from you crooked speech and put devious talk far from you.

Beloved, if you are tempted to gossip, if you are tempted to slander, you should ask yourself, will what I'm about to say or listen to build up my neighbor for their good, or will it tear them down? Will what I'm about to say or listen to edify and encourage my neighbor for their spiritual good, or will it misguide and discourage them to their detriment?

Will what I'm about to say or listen to line up with Philippians 4 .8? Is it true? Is it honorable? Is it just? Is it pure? Is it lovely? Is it commendable? Is it excellent? Is it worthy of praise? If it is, then think about it and speak about it.

But if it's not, then don't. If you are not part of the problem, and if you are not part of the solution, then most likely it's gossip. It's none of your business, and you should recognize it as crooked speech and put it away.

The fruit of gossip, conflict, and discord will quickly disappear when there is no longer a whisperer and when there is no longer a listening ear. Beloved, steer clear of slander. Steer clear of gossip.

Put them both far away from you. Another form of lies and deceit is exaggeration. You know what? You have never treated me right. You have never supported me. You have never been nice to me. Never? Never ever?

I have never ever been nice to you, not even once? Well, do you know what you always do? You always leave a mess wherever you go. You always make a mountain out of a molehill. You always hurt my feelings.

I always do these things? I may do them quite often, but always? You see what's happening here? Exaggeration is when you take the truth and you go far beyond it. Using words like always and never will get you into trouble.

Always and never are exaggerating words. And let me tell you, beyond the truth lies nothing but falsehood and deception. Beyond the truth lies nothing but lies. Exaggeration is a very common and subtle form of deception that we must be on guard against.

Another common form is the half truth or the partial truth. This is when you give only part of the information so that you lead a person to believe something is true when it's not entirely true. For example, Abraham and his wife Sarah traveling in the land of Egypt, Genesis 12.

When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarah, his wife, I know that you are a beautiful woman in appearance and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, this is his wife. Then they will kill me, but they will let you live.

Say you are my sister that it may go well with me because of you and that my life will be spared for your sake. Now, was this a malicious lie? Was this a blatant lie? No, it was a half truth. Sarah was Abraham's sister.

She was his stepsister. But the other half of the truth was that Sarah was also his wife. So be very cautious of presenting half truths as the whole truth. A half truth presented as the whole truth becomes an untruth.

Another common form of deception is evasion. Evasion of the truth. Remember the story of Cain and Abel? Both brothers brought their offerings before the Lord God and the Lord God had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard.

Genesis 4. Cain spoke to Abel, his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, where is your brother? And he said, I do not know.

Am I my brother's keeper? Cain played dumb. And then he changed the subject. He did not honestly answer the question, but rather he was elusive to the truth. And he answered the question with another question.

Evasion is a very common tactic when someone is stuck in a corner. In John chapter 4, the Lord Jesus Christ was speaking with a Samaritan woman who had many husbands. In verse 16, he then zeros in on her sin.

Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come here. The woman answered him, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, you are right in saying I have no husband, for you have had five husbands and the one you have now is not your husband.

What you have said is true. Now, do you remember her response? Evasion. Rather than confessing and repenting of her sin, she sought to evade the Lord Jesus Christ by asking a theological question. John 4 .19, the woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you're a prophet.

Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. So, where should we be worshipping? She didn't get the answer that she expected. John 4 .23 and 24,.

But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

Flattery is another form of deception. One of my girls, who will remain unnamed, used to offer the most kind and generous and gracious compliments to her grandparents right before asking them to take her to McDonald's.

The tongue of flattery is not truthful, but it seeks to be noticed. It seeks to be ingratiated, or it seeks to get something from the one who is being flattered. I've heard flattery cleverly defined as saying things to a person's face that you would never say to them behind their back.

The Apostle Paul never used flattery in his ministry, and neither should we. 1 Thessalonians 2 .4,. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. God is witness.

The Westminster Larger Catechism, question 145, which I've included on the back of the notes for your own edification, states numerous other forms of lies and deception. To name a few, calling evil good, calling good evil, concealing the truth, undue silence in a just cause, speaking the truth unseasonably, or perverting it with a wrong meaning, misconstructing intentions, words, and actions, vainglorious boasting, and the list goes on and on.

Does it ever surprise you at how many ways our sinful flesh can twist and tweak and distort the truth? What is the root cause of our lies and deception? Why do we do it? Why do we lie? Why do we deceive?

Why do we shade the truth in so many varied and different ways? One of the biggest reasons for lying and deception is fear. It could be the fear of consequences, it could be the fear of failure, or it could be the fear of man.

The fear of man is when we care too much about what other people think of us. On the one side, it is a strong desire to win the approval of someone, but on the other side, it is also a strong fear of their rejection.

The approval and rejection of our family, friends, coworkers, church members, and even complete strangers can be very powerful motivators for our speech. In other words, before others, we try to sound better than we really are.

We try to look better than we really are. We use lies and deception to cover our embarrassment and our shame. Proverbs 29, 25 says, The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

The fear of man is a snare. The fear of man is a trap. The fear of man will snare you and trap you and bind you. It will constrict you. The fear of man happens when you replace the fear of the Lord God with people.

In other words, instead of a biblical and healthy fear of the creator, we fear the creation. Instead of a biblical and healthy fear of the Lord God, we fear other people. We see other people as bigger and more significant and more powerful than the Lord God.

And out of that fear, we give other people the power and right to tell us what to think, feel, and do. The fear of man is a snare, and it entraps many liars. Another reason for lying and deception is bitterness.

Bitterness is the result of unresolved conflict. If there is conflict in your relationships and it is not handled in a biblical manner, then resentment and bitterness will often ensue. The author of Hebrews warns us against bitterness.

Hebrews 12, 15. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it, many become defiled. The root of bitterness is the cause of all sorts of trouble.

A bitter root will produce bitter fruit. The desire to lie, slander, and gossip will often spring forth from a bitter heart. And if we permit such a root to grow, it will corrupt and defile a great many others, including yourself.

Another reason for our lying and deception is pride. The proud see themselves as above all others, as better than all others. The proud see themselves with an inflated view of their own importance, gifts, and abilities.

The proud are often consumed with what other people think, and so rather than being a God-pleaser, they are a man-pleaser. And in an attempt to win the approval of others, the proud will often strive to cover their sins, cover their faults, and cover their mistakes.

The proud will do just about anything to conceal the negative things about them, including lying and bearing false witness. Now, there are many other reasons why we lie and deceive our neighbors. It could be because of jealousy or unresolved hurt or a lack of forgiveness or from any other sin of the heart.

Remember, it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. And if there is a problem in the heart, that will manifest in what you say. Deceit in the heart will result with lies in the mouth.

The good news is that the Lord God has given us a solution for lying and deceit. And that solution is truth. Ephesians 4 .25,. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

Ephesians 4 .15,. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.